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Furman, Matt. "Federal funds will help restore Adams landmark." The Evening Sun 6 July 2004 http://www.eveningsun.com/Stories/0,...256001,00.html (accessed [7 July 2004])
Federal funds will help restore Adams landmark
By MATT FURMAN
Evening Sun Reporter
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Recent changes in federal transportation law are helping to put the cap * literally * on a massive project to restore a historic Adams County landmark.
Six years ago, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association bought, with the intention of restoring, the 140-acre Daniel Lady farm in Straban Township, where Gen. Robert E. Lee reportedly stayed July 1, 1863.
The site was also used as a Confederate Civil War hospital.
Money to replace the roof on the farm's barn could come from an unusual source * federal and state money allocated for Adams County transportation projects planned for the next four years.
Nearly 30 projects * ranging from bridge replacement and rehabilitation to major road improvements * are under consideration by the Adams County Transportation Planning Organization.
Reworking of federal law, which now allows for enhancements for buildings that rest along historic roads, is making the desired $75,000 for the roof possible, said association president Kathi Schue.
Since the farm lies along Route 116, considered to be the oldest road in Adams County, the association jumped at the chance for the funds, said Schue.
The law's changes were the result of pressure from interest groups like rails to trails backers, said Dan Accurti of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, who handles enhancements like the Lady Farm project at the state level.
If approved, Accurti said the Lady Farm money will come from federal transportation funds earmarked for just such projects.
"It's definitely different from a traditional transportation project," he said.
The barn roof was damaged by a cannon ball in 1863. Recent structural repairs also resulted in accidental damage, Schue said.
The current roof is tin, and the new wooden one will be fireproof with a 50-year guarantee, Schue said.
Doors and windows at the stone farmhouse have been restored, and the entire project is slated for completion by winter of 2005, said Schue.
"That's an extremely lofty goal for such a large undertaking," she said. "But I think it's possible."
When completely restored, Schue said the farm will be used as a functioning agricultural museum, with plants grown and animals raised in the same way they were in the Civil War era.
The nearly $43 million earmarked for the Adams County projects is divided into roughly $7.5 million per year, and is about 80 percent federal money and approximately 20 percent state money, said Richard Schmoyer, director of the county's office of planning and development.
ACTPO will collect public comment on the projects until July 9, and it will also listen to concerns at its July 12 meeting.
In mid-August, the final list will be sent to the state transportation commission, which will likely vote on it later that month.
Schue said the farm is the only former Confederate installation in the North maintained by a private nonprofit group.
"This is about preserving history," she said. "North and South * it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you fall on with this. This is not about the sides involved in this war, but the individual people who were in it."
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Contact Matt Furman at mfurman@eveningsun.com .
Federal funds will help restore Adams landmark
By MATT FURMAN
Evening Sun Reporter
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Recent changes in federal transportation law are helping to put the cap * literally * on a massive project to restore a historic Adams County landmark.
Six years ago, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association bought, with the intention of restoring, the 140-acre Daniel Lady farm in Straban Township, where Gen. Robert E. Lee reportedly stayed July 1, 1863.
The site was also used as a Confederate Civil War hospital.
Money to replace the roof on the farm's barn could come from an unusual source * federal and state money allocated for Adams County transportation projects planned for the next four years.
Nearly 30 projects * ranging from bridge replacement and rehabilitation to major road improvements * are under consideration by the Adams County Transportation Planning Organization.
Reworking of federal law, which now allows for enhancements for buildings that rest along historic roads, is making the desired $75,000 for the roof possible, said association president Kathi Schue.
Since the farm lies along Route 116, considered to be the oldest road in Adams County, the association jumped at the chance for the funds, said Schue.
The law's changes were the result of pressure from interest groups like rails to trails backers, said Dan Accurti of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, who handles enhancements like the Lady Farm project at the state level.
If approved, Accurti said the Lady Farm money will come from federal transportation funds earmarked for just such projects.
"It's definitely different from a traditional transportation project," he said.
The barn roof was damaged by a cannon ball in 1863. Recent structural repairs also resulted in accidental damage, Schue said.
The current roof is tin, and the new wooden one will be fireproof with a 50-year guarantee, Schue said.
Doors and windows at the stone farmhouse have been restored, and the entire project is slated for completion by winter of 2005, said Schue.
"That's an extremely lofty goal for such a large undertaking," she said. "But I think it's possible."
When completely restored, Schue said the farm will be used as a functioning agricultural museum, with plants grown and animals raised in the same way they were in the Civil War era.
The nearly $43 million earmarked for the Adams County projects is divided into roughly $7.5 million per year, and is about 80 percent federal money and approximately 20 percent state money, said Richard Schmoyer, director of the county's office of planning and development.
ACTPO will collect public comment on the projects until July 9, and it will also listen to concerns at its July 12 meeting.
In mid-August, the final list will be sent to the state transportation commission, which will likely vote on it later that month.
Schue said the farm is the only former Confederate installation in the North maintained by a private nonprofit group.
"This is about preserving history," she said. "North and South * it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you fall on with this. This is not about the sides involved in this war, but the individual people who were in it."
----------
Contact Matt Furman at mfurman@eveningsun.com .